Xavier Sweeps First #BIGEASTswim Accolades
NEW YORK – Xavier’s Emily Conners and Jon Bernard collect the inaugural BIG EAST swimming and diving awards of the 2019-20 season. This week includes performances from the past two weekends as teams across the country begin their seasons. Butler, Providence, Seton Hall, and Xaiver have competed at least once, while Georgetown and Villanova will kick off competition on Oct. 10 and Oct. 12, respectively
BIG EAST Women’s Athlete of the Week
Emily Conners, Xavier, Sr., Free (Sunfish Lake, Minn.)
Conners continues led the Musketeers in freestyle sprints, claiming a pair of event wins in the 50 free and 100 free in the season opening Butler Double Duals. The senior’s times of 23.84 in the 50 free and 52.07 in the 100 free led all competitors to help Xavier take the top spot against Butler, Evansville and Saint Louis. In a meet against Louisville, Conners set the top times in both sprint events by a BIG EAST competitor so far this season, finishing the 50 free in 23.81 to place fourth, then touching the wall in 52.19 to finish third in the 100 free.
BIG EAST Men’s Athlete of the Week
Jon Bernard, Xavier, Fr., Breast/IM (Maineville, Ohio)
Bernard started off his college career with a pair of wins at the Butler Double Duals, winning the 200 breast (2:06.02) and the 400 IM (4:04.33) to help Xavier to take the top spot over Evansville’s and Saint Louis’ men’s squads. The freshman followed that performance up with three top-two finishes, including an event win against Louisville. Bernard took the top spot in the 100 breast (57.15), and then placed second in both the 200 breast (2:05.58) and the 200 IM (1:53.86). The Maineville, Ohio native holds the top times in the BIG EAST in all four of the events in which he has competed.
Notable Performances
Ben LaClair, Seton Hall, So., Free/Back (Belchertown, Mass.)
LaClair was victorious in two individual events for the Pirates in a meeting against Rider. He was first to the wall in the 200 free and 500 free coming in at 1:41.56 and 4:40.12 respectively. Both of his times are the best so far in the BIG EAST.
Siera Cripps, Seton Hall, Fr., Fly/Free
Cripps impressed in her collegiate debut in the Pirates win over Rider. The rookie posted two wins in the 100 Fly (57.22) and the 200 Fly (2:03.48). Cripps then went on to aid her 200 Medley Relay team to victory with a time of 1:47.50 with a personal split of 24.03
#BIGEASTswim Results
Butler hosted the Butler Double Duals to start the season on Sept. 29, which also featured BIG EAST rival Xavier. On the women’s side, the Bulldogs went 0-3, while the Musketeers went 3-0. The Xavier men went 2-0.
Providence competed in the New England Catholic Invite hosted by Boston College, which also featured Fairfield and Holy Cross with both men’s and women’s teams. The Friars finished third on both the men’s and women’s side.
Seton Hall opened the season against Rider, where the Pirate women defeated the Broncs 178-109 and the men avenged last year’s setback with a 164-129 win.
Xavier went on the road to perennial power Louisville, where the Musketeer women fell 177-81, while the men were defeated 194-62.